Fluxer for fuel-briquette material



G. KO-MAREK.

FLUXER FOR FUEL BRIQUETTE MATERIAL.

APPLICATION FILED APR.1. 1919.

v Patented Sept. 26, 1922.

3 SHEETSSHE ET I.

G. KOMAREK. FLUXER FOR FUEL BRIQUETTE MATERIAL.

APPLICATION FILED APR-I. I919- 1922. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Sept. 26,

fizwizioi v 21.52221 ffamam? l Patented Sept. 26, 1922..

1,430,384 PATENT oFnc- GUsTAv KoMAREK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOISLASSIGNOR, BYMESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0

MALCOLMSON ENGINEERING AND MACHINE CORPORATION on ST. LOUIS, MIS- SOURI,A. CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

FLUXER roia FUEnBR QUE T MATERIAL.

Application filed n' rn '1,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUs'rAv KoMAREm-a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, Illinois, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Fluxers' for Fuel-Briquette Material, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact descr1pt1on, such as will enableothers'skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofth1s specifica tion.

My invention relates to a fiuxer or mechanical mixing apparatus that ispart cularly designed for mixing. material utilized in the manufactureof fuel briquettes, the

principal objects of m invention being to generally improve upon andsimplify the construction of the existing types of fluxers or mixingmachines; and to provide a rela tively simple apparatus which can bevery economically operated, which 15 very effective in performing itsintended functions, and which can be readily combined with a briquetteforming machine so as lZO'ClGllVBI directly thereto the thoroughly mixedbriquette material. I

A further object of my invention 1s to provide what may be properlytermed a two-stage fiuxer or mixmg 1113 0111118, nasmuch as theapparatus is provided with two chambers, preferably disposed one abovethe other, with mechanicalmix'ing means arranged for operation withinthe lower chamber and the upper chamber constituting a hopper into whichthe material to be mixed is fed and said material being subjected toheat and moisture, preferably in the form of steam, prior to the passageof said material into the mixing chamber. This arrangement is veryeconomical from the standpoint of steam and power consumption and, inaddition, enables the fluxing operations to be very rapidly accomplished, thereby materially reducing the time required to properlyprepare the material for the briquette press or'forniing machine. Afurther object of my invention is to provide improved means in the formof a" gate or valve for controllingthe feed of the mixed material fromtheapparatus' to the briquette forming machine.

1919; Serial No. 286,788.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists incertain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts,hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, inwhichb Figure 1 is a side elevational view of afiuxer or mixing apparatus of my improved construction, parts thereofbeing broken away.

Figure 2 is an elevational view looking in the direction indicatedby'thearrow 2, Figure 1, and with the lower portion of the apparatus invertical section.

Figure 3 is an enlargedvertical section taken approximately on the line3-3 of Figure2.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings which lllustrate apractical embodimentof my invention, 10 designates may be of any desiredconstruction, for instance, it may be cast in one or'more parts or itmay be made up of suitable frames and relatively 'heavy sheet metalplates. The lower portions of the side walls 12 are curved inwardly asdesignated by 12*, and the inner ends of said side walls are spacedapart to'form a discharge opening 14 for the material after-the same hasbeen thoroughly mixed and'made ready for delivery to the briquetteforming machine.

Mounted for rotation in suitable bearings 15 formed on the lowerportions of the end walls 13' isa pair of shafts 16, the ends thereofprojecting beyondsaid end walls and arranged for rotation'in suitablebearings 17 formed on the upper portions of said end walls is a secondpair of shafts 18. These four shafts pass transversely through thechamber 19 formed by the walls 12 and the fiuxing or mixing chamberinasmuch as the material while in said chamber is con-' stantly stirredor agitated by arms carried by the shafts.- designated by the mixingThese arms, the numeral 20, are provided with suitable means at theirinner ends whereby they can be adjustably secured to the various shaftsand their outer ends are provided with short horizontally disposedplates or fingers 21 which while the apparatus is in operation, travelin paths immediately adjacent to the inner faces of the side walls 12.

It will be noted that one pair of the stirring arm carrying shafts islocated in the upper portion of the chamber 19 and a substantialdistance above the lower pair of stirring arm carrying shafts, and byvirtue of this construction, a two-stage fluxer is provided for thematerial passing through the fluxer is first engaged and initially mixedby the upper sets of stirring arms and said material is afterwards or inthe secondstage subjected to the mixing action of the lower sets ofstirring arms.

Carried by the outer arm 20 of each series is a scraper 22, one edge ofwhich is adapted tobear directly against the inner face of the adjacentend wall 13 while the apparatus is in operation, thereby scraping thematerial from said wall and directing it inwardly toward the stirringarms.

Formed in one of the side walls 12 and preferably at points directlyopposite the pairs of shafts 1'6 and 18 are openings 23 which give readyaccess to the mixing chamber 19 and the stirring and scraping memberstherein, and these openings are normally closed by readily removableplates or heads 2 l.

Journaled in suitable bearings on the frame 10 below and to one side ofthe housing comprising the walls 12 and 13 is a power-driven shaft 25,and carried thereby is a pinion 26 which meshes with a relatively largegear wheel 27. This gear wheel is carried by a counter sl1aft .28 tl1atis journaled in suitable bearings formed on a pair of the uprights 11and carried by the end of this last mentioned shaft opposite the endcarrying the gear wheel 27 .is a

pinion 29. This pinion meshes with a pair of gear wheels30, one of whichis secured to one of the shafts 18 and the other being secured to one ofthe shafts 16.

Carried by the ends of the shafts 18 and on the opposite side of themachine from the pinion 29 and gear wheels 30 is a pair of meshingpinions 31 and arranged on the corresponding ends of the shafts 16 is apair of meshing pinions 32.

By the arrangement of gearing just described, the rotary motion of powerdriven shaft 25 is transmitted through pinion 26 and gear wheel 27, toshaft 28, and from thence through pinion 29, gear wheels 30 and pinions31 and 32 to the pairs ofshafts 16 and 18 and which latter carry thestirring and scraping arms 20 and 22. The dis charge of mixed materialthrough the opening 14- is controlled by apair of gates or nasoseaplates 33, the same being arranged to move toward and away from eachother inasmuch as they are carried by short arms 3%, the latter beingclosed and their lower ends mounted on a pair of shafts 35. These shaftsare journaled for rotation in suitable bearings 36 which depend from theend walls 13 of the housing and carried by said shafts are meshingpinions 37 which are effective in causing said shafts and the gatescarried thereby to move uniformly and simultaneously. One of theseshafts 35 is extended a suitable distance away from the housing andcarried by said extended end is a lever 38 or other member which may bemanually engaged to impart rocking movement to the shaft.

Formed in the end walls 13 near the central and, top portions thereofare openings 39 through which extend steam pipes 40 and formed in thelatter within the chamber 19 are jet openings 41, the same beingdisposed so as to direct jets of steam outwardly through the central andupper portion of the mixing chamber. These pipes are connected to asuitable source of steam supply.

-iirranged on top of the housing comprising the walls 12 and 13 are thelower ends of the walls of a hopper 42, the same being of any desiredconstruction and of such size as to contain a substantial amount ofbriquetting material. The walls of this hopper are preferably inclinedso that the chamber within the hopper gradually becomes larger towardits lower end, this arrangement being carried out in order to reduce thefriction of the material or mixture against the sides of the hopper andto insure an even and uniform downward travel or feed of materialthrough said hopper.

In the operation of my improved fluxer, the mixing, chamber 19 andhopper 42. are charged or filled. with briquetting material and thepower shaft 25 is now operated to effect rotary movement of the shafts16 and 18. Owing to the gear connections between the members of thesepairs of shafts, the members of each pair will rotate toward each other,as illustrated by the arrows in Figure 3, and as the mixing arms travelin circular paths which overlap each other, the entire body of materialwithin the mixing chamber 19 will be constantly agitated and whichaction will result in a rapid and thorough mixture of theelements'constituting the material. As this mixing operation is carriedout, steam is delivered to the pipes 40 and will discharge therefromthrough the jet openings. 41. to simultaneously heat and moisten thematerial under treatment.

Inasmuch as the steam pipes extend entirely through the mixing orfluxing chamber, the=st eam discharging from said pipes is delivereddirectly into the volume of may terial under treatn'ienu with the resultthat all of the moisture and heat will be absorbed by said material.

In the event that there is an excess of steam discharged from the pipes4-0, said steam will rise through the body of material in the upperportion of the mixing chamber and pass upwardly through the unmixedmaterial in hopper 42. Thus the unmixed material or that material withinhopper 42 is to a Certain degree pre-heated and moistened, with theresult that when it reaches the mixing chamber 19, it is with the leastexpenditure of power brought into the proper consistency to produce thestrongest and most homogenous briquettes.

While the machine is in operation, it is desirable that a relativelylarge volume of raw material be maintained within the hopper 42 and thata sufficient amount of steam be delivered to pipes 40 or to the upperone of said pipes to effect a partial heating and moistening of thematerial within said hopper. This procedure results in a material savingof time, labor and consequent expense in properly preparing the mater alfor the briquette press or machine, for it will be understood that topre-heat and moisten the raw material, the latter can be very rapidlyand effectively brought to proper condition while under treatment in themixing chamber 19.

The arrangement and operation of the mixing arms is such that all powerdelivered to the shafts carrying said mixing arms is utilized in theactual work of mixing or fluxing the material and rendering the same toproper consistency for delivery to the briquette press.

Inasmuch as there are two sets of stirring arms and one set is disposedabove the other, the entire body of material within the mixing chamberis constantly stirred and agitated, and which action quickly brings thematerial into proper condition to be delivered to the briquette formingmachine.

To efiect a discharge of the material from the fluxing apparatus to thebriquette ma-' chine, it is only necessary to actuate hand lever 38 torock the shaft to which said lever is connected, and such actionsimultaneously rocks the other one of said shafts 35, and as a result,the plates or gates 33 are moved outwardly and downwardly away from eachotherto partially open the discharge outlet. When a sufficient amount ofmaterial has discharged through the opening between the gates or plates33, a reverse movement of the handle 38 closes said gates.

A fiuxer of my improved construction is comparatively simple, is veryefficient and economical in operation, and is effective in very rapidlypreparing briquette machine for delivery to a briquette "forming pressor machine.

It will be readily understood that minor changes in the size, form andconstruction of the Various parts of my improved fluxer can be made andsubstituted for those herein shown and described, without departing fromthe spirit of my invention, the scopeof which is set forth in theappended claims.

I do not in this application claima method of treating fuel forbriquetting purposes, as the same is disclosed in an application filedby me December 21, 1920, No. 434,342.

I claim:

1. An apparatus of the character described comprising an unobstructedtapered chamber, widest at its lower end, means for agitating materialadjacent to the lower end of said chamber, and means for controlling thedischarge of the material from the bottom of said chamber.

2. An apparatus of the character described comprising an unobstructedtapered cylinder and provided at its upper end with an inlet opening,means for agitating material in the bottom of said chamber, means forcontrolling the discharge of the material from. the bottom of saidchamber, and means for introducing heat to the chamber.

3. An apparatus of the character described comprising an upwardlytapered chamber substantially unobstructed through its interior andprovided at its upper end with an inlet opening, means for agitating thematerial near the bottom of said chamber only, means for controlling thedischarge of the material from the bottom of said chamber, and means forintroducing heat and moisture into the chamber near its bottom.

4. The combination of a tapered chamber the interior of which isunobstructed and is largest at its bottom for carrying a column ofmaterial or mixture, and means for mechanically agitating or kneadingthe mixture at the bottom of the tapered chamber, whereby the fullweight of the unobstructed column of mixture is allowed to bear down onthat portion of the mixture which is receiving mechanical treatment.

5. The combination of a tapered chamber the interior of which isunobstructed and is largest at the bottom end, means for heat treatingthe mixture column, which fills the cylinder, to nearly its full height,and means for intensely working or kneading the mix ture at the lower orbottom while the upper portion, or that part of the mixture above theagitating arms is not disturbed by the mechanical action but is heattreated and gradually fed downward under substantial pressure as it isbeing heat treated.

6. The combination of a tapered chamber the interior of which isunobstructed and is largest at its bottom for carrying a column ofmixture approximately its full height, means for intensely working orkneading this material column at the bottom end of the chamber only, andmeans for introducing heat into that portion of the mixture column Whichhas not yet come in contact With the mechanical Working or kneadingmeans.

7. The combination of a vertically disposed upwardly tapered chamberhaving an unobstructed interior, means for feeding material into theupper portion thereof, means for mechanically Working or kneading thematerial at the bottom of said cham her, and means for heat treating thematerial as it travels downwardly through the cylinder.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature this 28th day ofMarch, 19l9.

GUSTAV KOMAREK.

